WhatsApp Will Allow Users Share Their Status To Facebook Story

WhatsApp seems to be testing a new feature that will allow users to share their Status to Facebook and other platforms, The Verge reported. WhatsApp Status is basically the Facebook Stories' counterpart, and the new feature would make it possible for users to share to both platforms at once.

Users will also be able to share their Status posts to Instagram, Gmail, and Google Photos. The feature is available through WhatsApp's beta program. The report also hints that WhatsApp won't require users to directly link their Facebook account to WhatsApp to port their Status to their Story.

The transfer will be made through the data-sharing API used by iOS and Android. While the data will be shared across platforms on the user's phone, there will be no need on linking accounts. Also, there's no option for automatically sharing a Status to another platform, and users will have to do it manually.

Briding WhatsApp and Facebook might raise some privacy concerns, as the social media goliath promised it wouldn't collect data from the popular messaging service when it was first acquired back in 2014. Two years later, Facebook started doing that. European Commission also fined Facebook for misleading regulators during its acquisition of WhatsApp.

There are reports that WhatsApp will also show ads starting in 2020. The first set of ads will appear on the status stories as seen on Facebook and Instagram. These ads will occupy the whole screen and show the company name instead of the contact name. A swipe-up on the link will also be included to facilitate shopping.

The new features are surely helpful, but we feel privacy should be the first priority for these platforms. Previously, WhatsApp and Israeli software developer NSO group have confirmed that an exploit within the popular messaging app allowed hackers to load NSO's Pegasus spyware on to Android and iOS devices during voice calls using the app.

The tool is capable of affecting the device even if the user didn't answer the call. Besides, the malicious calls would frequently disappear from the call logs. Pegasus can also access the camera and mic of the device and gather message and location information of the user.